JBHS engineering students consider aerospace during field trip

MERCERSBURG -- Students at James Buchanan High School learned first-hand about a career choice in aerospace engineering during a trip to Virginia last week.

Students in three of William Brooks' engineering classes visited the Steven F. Udvar-Hasey Center -- the newest addition to the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Va.

"The trip helped clarify which type of engineering I wanted to go into," said Jasmin Wright, a 10th grader. "At first, I was confused by the different types. It showed me exactly what aerospace engineering was."

The Udvar-Hasey Center opened in 2003 to allow the Smithsonian to display more aircraft in addition to what is in the building in Washington D.C.
NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery, a Concorde jet and an SR-71 Blackbird jet were popular with the students. The also enjoyed the observation decks for behind-the-scenes work and the International Airport at Dulles.

"After getting to see how massive these ships were, it gave you a good idea to let you know the engineering that went into them and how long it would've taken to actually finish them," said ninth-grader Sam Ortbal. "You got to not only experience the planes, but they had many guys walking around talking about the history behind them. You got a really good idea of exactly what the planes were used for when they were still in operation."

Brooks got the idea after attending a seminar for aerospace engineering last year.

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He visited the museum in the fall.

"It's a whole other engineering field," said Brooks. "It gives them an opportunity to look at space flight and aircraft in general and decide if they want to go into an aerospace-type career field. It gives them an opportunity to look at what may be involved in some of those activities."

"I liked seeing how the guys work on the planes," said senior Mitchell Hoffman. "We were able to walk around and oversee what they're doing and the complexity of the engines they were working on. I didn't think the Shuttle Discovery would be that big, but it's huge."